


Stripes

by Carrot_Bunny



Category: Free!
Genre: Comedy, Don't Ask, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Prattkeeping, Zoo, also a bit of smut, animal prints, happy birthday sweetie!!, oh and stripping too, yes that too!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 07:39:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4339748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carrot_Bunny/pseuds/Carrot_Bunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He stopped short at the sight of the tiger print thong."</p><p>Based on the AU premise "My friend has been trying on clothes in the changing room for the past twenty minutes and I got so fed up I barged in to get them only I entered your changing stall instead by mistake and you're wearing nothing but your underwear".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stripes

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the wonderful [srtrash](http://srtrash.tumblr.com), the best shipping buddy a fangirl could ever ask for! Wishing you all the happiness and good luck in the world for your birthday - and hope you eat lots of cake too! Love ya!

One minute has sixty seconds. Twenty minutes would be two thousand and four hundred seconds.

Which meant Rin had just wasted two thousand and four hundred seconds of his life that could be put to better use than waiting outside a _stupid_ changing room in a _stupid_ department store for his _stupid_ mackerel fanatic of a friend to finish trying on half a dozen _stupid_ swimsuits that ALL. LOOKED. THE. FUCKING. SAME.

God, he didn’t even use the word ‘stupid’ that often in daily life. Maybe his brain cells were dying from all the waiting.

He glanced at his watch for the fifth time in half as many minutes and let out a highly irritated tsk. He didn’t come all the way back from Australia to stand vigil all by himself while Haruka was occupied with his completely pointless quest for ‘the perfect one’. He sorely regretted even letting himself be dragged here in the first place.

 _Ah, but you were the one who suggested checking out the swimwear department_ , the annoying voice in his head said.

 _Shut up_ , he told the voice, and stalked into the changing room to murder Haruka.

Out of the six stalls on both sides of the corridor, only two were occupied. Rin’s eyes fell on a pair of jammers hanging over the top of the first curtain grille on the left, so that was where he strode towards, yanking open the drapes with a loud rustling.

“Nanase, I _SWEAR_ if you haven’t dropped dead in here or something, I’m going to make you wish you did - ”

He stopped short at the sight of the tiger print thong.

…

Sousuke’s apartment was too small to have a bathtub. Even if it did have one though, it would’ve been hard to drown a six-footer like himself in it anyway.

He suspected that even death wouldn’t have freed him from the humiliation though – when he arrived at the Pearly Gates the angel on duty would probably give him an once-over, snigger and remark, “So, how about that thong, huh?”

Which was exactly what he dreamed about last night. And to top it all off, the angel had razor-sharp teeth and soft red hair that floated around his head like a halo. However, in place of the scowl he wore when Sousuke saw his face for the first – and most possibly only – time, there was an alluring upward tilt of the lips and a glint in his eyes that sent blood rushing down towards parts of Sousuke’s body that were highly inappropriate.

Damn it, he shouldn’t be this attracted to a guy who’d charged into his changing room without so much as a warning. And then proceeded to make threats on his life.

Of course, he knew perfectly well he wasn’t the intended recipient of the aforementioned declaration of murder. And when the angel – ahem, other party realized it as well, his menacing face immediately morphed into an expression of what Sousuke assumed was pure horror. Though he supposed that was less to do with the fact with the mistaking of his identity and more with the small problem of what he didn’t – or to be exact, what he _did_ have on at the time.

Sousuke had changed his mind. He wasn’t going to drown himself; he was going to drown Kisumi instead. Or stab, burn or decapitate him, whatever worked best.

“Yo Sousuke, great you see you here bright and early!”

Speak of the devil himself.

“Leave me alone, Shigino.” Sousuke had never been much of a morning person to begin with, and he was feeling even less sociable than usual (or in other words, more likely to bite someone’s head off) after what had happened yesterday. However, his intern job at the new zoo unfortunately didn’t allow him to come in late to work due to the need to sleep off the trauma of embarrassing himself in front of a cute guy. Never mind the fact that said cute guy was the one who barged in out of the blue when he was in a state of undress, or that he technically hadn’t really done anything at all – not burning the thong immediately when he’d first opened the package was his mistake.

“Oh come on, it’s too early for even me to have done anything to piss you off already,” Kisumi quipped, unaware that he was the exact cause of Sousuke’s current predicament. He’d gotten Sousuke the gift after their applications for the zoo internship had been accepted, wanting to ‘get you something fitting to mark the occasion with’. A souvenir from a zoo gift shop would never have been high on Sousuke’ wishlist though, much less one that sold animal print underwear of all things. The fact that it was a _thong_ only had Sousuke question why he was friends with the guy in the first place even more.

It was still wearable though, regardless of its garish design, and Sousuke didn’t see the need to waste a perfectly good piece of clothing if nobody was going to see him in it anyway. Of course, Kami-sama just had to prove him wrong on that count.

He let out a huff and ran a hand through his hair. “Never mind. Just pass me the roster list.”

“Here ya go.” Kisumi handed him a clipboard and he scanned the paper for his name. Then his gaze fell on the words in the space beside, and his eyes widened in disbelief. Right after the incident yesterday…

There was no doubt now – the universe _really_ had it in for him.

“You done with that yet? Other people need to check their duties too, you know.” Kisumi plucked the clipboard out from Sousuke’s hands and glanced down. “Cleaning out the tigers’ enclosure, huh. Oh well, have fun.”

Sousuke didn’t even bother to reply. He simply turned towards the cleaning equipment closet and resigned himself to his fate.

…

Another thing Rin didn’t come all the way back to Australia for was to walk around with two of his friends who were practically married to each other _and_ one of the aforementioned friends’ twin younger siblings at a zoo. It was hard to refuse Ran and Ren though, who’d been so excited when Haruka showed up at their house with ‘Rin-niichan’ in tow, you would think he’d been Santa Claus instead.

“When you said we were going to hang out with Makoto, this was _not_ what I had in mind,” Rin told Haruka as they were waiting for Makoto to come back with their entry passes. The twins were waiting in line with him as a sort of honorary guard, eager to get their passes as fast as possible.

Haruka just shrugged. “The twins wanted to come here, and Makoto’s parents are going to the city today.”

“Well, if I wasn’t worried about letting them down after they begged for me to come with you guys, I would’ve dumped you all and taken off by myself instead.”

“You wouldn’t – you’ve got nobody else to hang out with,” Haruka deadpanned. It was true; school was still in session, so Rin couldn’t drop by either the Iwatobi or the Samezuka swim teams. He was going to visit both eventually, but he hadn’t had anything planned for today because he was expecting to hang out with Haruka and Makoto. If he’d known this was what he would be signing up for though…

“Haru-niichan! Rin-niichan! We got the passes right here!” Two little forms buzzing with energy were zipping towards them, followed by their elder brother at a slower pace. As Rin let Ran attach his entry pass wristband while Ren urged them excitedly to hurry up, he smiled and reflected that this wasn’t too bad either.

They passed through the entrance and Makoto picked up a map of the place at the information counter. “So, where do you guys want to go first?” The twins immediately piped up with half a dozen animals they wanted to see.

“The gorillas!”

“No, the parrots!”

“Or the giraffes!”

 “The aquarium,” Haruka interjected.

“Haru, let the kids pick, sheesh.” Rin glanced at the map, then circled his finger over it clockwise. “Why don’t we just head left and go around the entire place? It’s the easiest way to see everything.”

“Yeah!”

“Okay!”

“Whatever,” Haruka shrugged before heading over to Makoto’s side and discreetly looping an arm around his elbow. That left Rin to be dragged along by the twins, speeding ahead first while their brother and his boyfriend followed behind leisurely. Rin’s last view of them was of them stopping in front of an ice-cream kiosk, Haruka pointing to the signboard advertising the different flavours while Makoto chuckled and reached into his pocket presumably to get his wallet. They were still holding hands.

Rin understood now. He’d been duped into being a babysitter while his friends carried on with their little date. _I should’ve just stayed in Australia and froze myself in the school dorms instead_ , he thought regretfully as Ran and Ren pulled him towards the reptile house.

…

Sousuke straightened his back and kneaded his right shoulder. It didn’t hurt as much as it used to anymore, but it still ached dully sometimes. Nothing out of the ordinary though; his entire spine was aching as well from the menial work. His tall physique might have been an advantage during his competitive swimming days, but it was less helpful when he had to hunch over while scraping animal droppings.

The tiger enclosure was further away from the entrance than half the zoo, so visitors normally didn’t show up here until about half an hour after opening time at the earliest. This meant that they could start work later than for the other enclosures, which Sousuke supposed was a small compensation. The tigers had been locked away safely of course, but they had to work fast so they could be let out before the visitors arrived. Nobody wants to stare at empty enclosures when at the zoo after all.

Sousuke looked around him; the other interns seemed to have headed out already. He didn’t mind; other than Kisumi, he didn’t know any of his colleagues. Not the type to talk much, it was easy for the others to forget he was even there, which was just how he liked it.

He was only here to earn his keep while waiting for the results of his college applications to come out, although he was pretty sure the success rate in that department would be significantly lower than that of his internship. Heck, the only reason why this zoo would take on a fresh high school graduate like him in the first place was because it was newly opened and in dire need of extra hands, which were pretty much what all the interns were. Forget all that stuff about getting up close with and working to conserve nature – here it was just cleaning enclosures and picking up after litterbug visitors, plus handling the occasional lost kid howling in panic. There were plenty of howling kids in here anyway, lost or otherwise, and although they got on Sousuke’s nerves he had learned to tune them out while on the job.

“MOMMY, I WANT ICE-CREAM! I WANT IT _NOW_!”

Apparently his tuning skills weren’t up to par today. Sousuke shot an irritated glance at the source of the sound, where a little boy was all but dangling from his mother’s arm as she tried to hold him up so he wouldn’t collapse on the floor in a tantrum. He swung from side to side, upset shrieks interspersed with loud sobbing, until his eyes suddenly lit up at the sight before him. His whining ceased and he pointed excitedly to the front. “Look!”

Sousuke hadn’t noticed this; he had turned around before the boy had even stopped crying. He didn’t notice the sudden hush that had fallen on the surroundings either, intent as he was on scraping off a particularly nasty-looking piece of work on the rock formation where the tigers liked to sunbathe. Finally satisfied with the considerably cleaner surface he’d produced, he turned around to leave – and then froze in his tracks.

A 200 kilogram Bengal tiger was staring him in the face.

…

Okay, Rin admitted it – hanging out with the twins wasn’t so bad.

He’d found himself actually enjoying looking at the exhibits in the reptile house, watching with fascination at the snakes and lizards and other creatures in the assortment. Ran was always by his side wearing a similar expression of enraptured wonder, while Ren played the part of informal tour guide. Snakes were one of his favorite animals, he claimed, right between gorillas and lions.

When they’d gone through the reptile house they continued on their preplanned route around the zoo – Rin figured this way it would be easier for Makoto and Haruka to catch up with them. He had no idea how long the lovebirds would be missing, but Ran and Ren didn’t seem to mind their absence at all, which made him wonder whether this was not the first time they’d been left to their own devices while their ‘nii-chans’ went off by themselves.

“Ren, does your brother ever, uh, leave you guys behind or something and go off with Haru when the four of you are out together?”

Ren blinked up at him. “Not really. Brother and Haru-niichan always follow us everywhere when we’re out. He says it’s so they can keep an eye on us and make sure we’re safe, even though we’re already old enough to take care of ourselves!” he finished with a pout.

“But it’s always fun when we’re going out with brother and Haru-niichan though!” Ran piped up. “And they play with us a lot when we’re at home too, only…”

“Only?”

“Well… lately brother’s insisting we knock on his door before entering his room, instead of just coming in like before. There was this one time we forgot and just went in, and he was so angry his face was all red!”

“Haru-niichan’s face was all red too, even though he didn’t say anything. And his sleeve was falling off his shoulder,” Ren added.

“Uh-huh.” Rin sighed. He supposed he could understand why Haruka and Makoto would take off to have some time by themselves now, although that didn’t mean he liked it any more than he did. Just then, a crowd of people gathered up ahead caught his eye. “What’s going on there?”

The twins had noticed it too. “Let’s go see!” Ren exclaimed, and Rin found himself pulled along again. They jostled through the crowd, his hands holding on tightly to the twins’ to make sure they wouldn’t get separated, until they found themselves in front of a low wire fence circling an enclosure. There was a small artificial lake on the other side, with an islet in the middle of the water.

He saw the tigers first, but at first he couldn’t see what had gotten the attention of all three of them. Then he noticed the fiure they were cornering and took in a sharp intake of breath. The person had his back to them, so his face couldn’t be seen. He was dressed in the uniform of a zoo staff member, but that didn’t explain how he wound up in there as a possible option for the tigers’ next meal.

“They’re not going to _eat_ him, are they?” Ran asked worriedly from beside him.

“I dunno. Hopefully they’re not hungry.” Rin was expecting someone to show up soon and do something about the situation, but the guy seemed to be on his own for the time being. The crowd watched with bated breath as the three carnivores advanced closer towards the lone human, their jaws occasionally opening to reveal lines of jagged yellow teeth. By now they were only a few feet away from their unfortunate target.

Then the guy raised his arms, stretching them out towards the predators. “Stay back!”

Rin couldn’t help snorting - like the tigers would back off just because they were told to. However, for some reason they stopped in their tracks, pausing to regard this new development. The young man still had his arms out, and amazingly he wasn’t wavering a single bit as he faced off against the large felines. Rin could hear gasps from the people around him, plus a laughing remark about what sounded like ‘pratkeeping’.

Whatever it was that had stopped the tigers though, its effects had worn off. The tiger at the head of the line took a tentative step forwards, then another, and soon the three of them were moving towards their prey again. Then suddenly a door on one side of the enclosure opened, and another staff member with pink hair appeared. He shouted something, catching the first zoo attendant’s attention, then waved frantically. The young man froze for a fraction of a second, then turned and sprinted for the door faster than Rin had ever seen anyone run.

People were clapping and cheering around him, Ran and Ren included, yet Rin was only aware of one thing. In the moment the young man had turned to run to safety, he had caught a fleeting glimpse of his face, yet it was enough. He’d only seen that face once before, but it had been imprinted into his memory.

_What is he doing **here**?!_

…

It had been five minutes already, but Kisumi still hadn’t stopped laughing. “Ooh, or maybe we could call it ‘Man versus Tigers: The Foursome Straight Out Of Your Worst Nightmares!’”

“For the last time Shigino, cut out the stupid headlines,” Sousuke growled. As if being forgotten and left to fend for himself in a tiger enclosure wasn’t enough, he now had to endure his friend’s endless ribbing. Maybe he should’ve just stuck with the tigers instead.

“You’re lucky I was there to save you though. You should be down on your knees thanking me, you know,” Kisumi remarked with a grin.

“You were only there because some visitor with enough good sense realized a zookeeper shouldn’t be in there cornered by three tigers and told the staff, instead of just standing there and watching the show.” Sousuke still couldn’t believe that people actually had the audacity to just gape at the sight of a person about to be eaten alive, instead of doing something to rescue the poor victim.

“Yeah well, at least this would be a good story to tell the guys.” By ‘guys’ Kisumi meant his buddies who he went out with after his shift was over, hanging out at some joint in town. Sousuke on the other hand would much rather keep the incident to himself even if he did have any ‘guys’ to share it with, which he didn’t.

He was about to tell Kisumi to keep his mouth shut if he didn’t want to get murdered in his sleep when he was suddenly knocked off his feet as someone ran straight into his side. The two of them crashed onto the ground, and he felt the air leave his lungs at the impact. It didn’t help that the other person had fallen right on top of his legs either.

“Oi, watch where you’re - ” The words died in his throat as his eyes settled on the other’s face. Those red eyes that he’d seen so vividly last night in his dream were now hovering right in front of his own.

“You…?!”

…

Rin had made up his mind: he was _never_ going anywhere with Ran and Ren ever again, no matter how much the little devils begged him. Or with Haruka or Makoto, for that matter. “If they like their brother and their Haru-niichan so much, they can stick with them for all I care,” he muttered darkly.

“Come again?”

He gave a start as he realized that he was far from alone. “Oh – uh – nothing, I was just talking to myself.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Rin immediately cursed himself. Now he sounded like he was half-insane on top of being horribly clumsy. It was all the twins’ fault – they took off running the minute they spied their brother and Haruka in the distance, and he was so intent on chasing them down he forgot to look ahead at a level higher than their short figures. Trying to change the subject, he blurted, “You don’t have to do this, you know; I already said I’m fine.”

“Your palms are bleeding,” the zookeeper – at least, he seemed like a zookeeper - stated matter-of-factly as he continued to dab at Rin’s right hand with a cotton bud.

“It’s only just a little scrape, I’ll take care of it when I get home.”

“We have to ensure that our guests are comfortable at all times.” He looked up and grinned in a way that set Rin’s heart to beating at a faster pace for no apparent reason. “Why are you so intent on keeping me from doing my job anyway?”

“I’m trying to avoid distracting you from doing your job,” Rin corrected hotly as he tried to hide the flush on his cheeks. “You probably have a million other things to do in place of applying first aid.”

“I already told you, I’m between shifts now.”

“Then why is your pink-haired friend still on duty?”

“His shift times are different from mine. Now are you going to let me finish with this or not?”

“I – ow!” Rin hissed as the cotton bud was swiped down the length of his wound. He hadn’t noticed that he was injured at all when he’d been helped up off the ground after they’d fallen, too preoccupied with the fact that he’d just crashed headlong into _him_ of all people. Then he’d felt a sting on both his hands, and they looked down at the same time to see the blood welling up on his palms.

“Don’t worry, I’m almost done.”

Rin snorted. “Please. I can take a little pain.” He paused for a moment. “But thanks… Sousuke.”

The zoo worker’s head whipped up so fast Rin was surprised it didn’t come right off his neck. “How did you know my name?”

Rin had to laugh as he pointed at Sousuke’s left breast. “What do you think name tags are for?”

“Oh. Okay,” Sousuke said for the second time, then quickly bent his head and acted as if he was busy with Rin’s other hand. Rin could feel the corners of his lips lifting – despite how they’d first met, this guy was turning out to be quite adorable.

He shifted slightly on the wooden bench. “So since I know your name already, I suppose it’s only fair that I give you mine?”

Sousuke said nothing, but his teal eyes were back on Rin’s face. The close scrutiny set his cheeks to heating up again, but he managed a grin. “I’m Matsuoka Rin.”

“Matsuoka…” Sousuke repeated, as if he was testing the feel of the name on his tongue.

“Just call me Rin.”

The other grinned again. “And I’m Yamazaki Sousuke, but you already knew that.”

“Yeah. Now I can stop referring to you as ‘the zookeeper’ in my head.” They both laughed, until Sousuke stopped abruptly and winced.

Rin’s eyebrows furrowed. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just my right shoulder.” Sousuke smiled weakly, but the pain was evident. “You were pretty heavy, you know.”

“Don’t be stupid, I didn’t fall on you anywhere near your chest,” Rin snapped. Then, “Should we go to a clinic? Maybe a doctor - ”

“It’s fine, it’s just an old injury acting up from the fall.” Sousuke’s right hand was still holding the cotton bud, while his left went to his shoulder and kneaded it. “It only aches sometimes when I’ve exerted it too much.”

“Oh.” Rin was silent for a moment before finding his voice again. “Does it… does it hurt when you swim?”

Sousuke raised an eyebrow. “Not much, if I take it easy. How did you know that I swim though?”

“Why else would you be trying on swimsuits? Did you forget completely about yesterday?”

There was an awkward pause, then Sousuke hastily averted his eyes. “No…”

It was then that Rin realized what he’d just brought up, and his cheeks now flared at record-high temperatures. “Yeah? Okay… sure…”

They sat like that for a moment, both trying hard not to look at the other, until Sousuke muttered “Damn, now I’m starting to wish I was still stuck with those tigers instead.”

Rin couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing.

Maybe it was the tense atmosphere, or the absurd memory of Sousuke in nothing but a thong, or basically everything that had happened today from the moment Rin entered the zoo. He was aware of the weird looks he was getting from passersby, but at this point he honestly couldn’t care less. Then Sousuke joined him as well, and at that moment nothing sounded better to Rin than the sound of his laugh.

They carried on for a few seconds before finally stopping. Then Rin took out his phone from his pocket, making sure that the injured part of his hand didn’t make contact with his clothing. “Give me your number.”

Sousuke stared at him. “What?”

“You heard me. We’ve run into each other twice in as many days, so it seems fate is really intent on having us meet. I’m not talking to Haruka or Makoto for a week anyway, which leaves me with nobody to hang out with. So now it’s your responsibility to keep me occupied before I head back to Australia when vacation ends.”

Sousuke blinked in confusion. “Uh… okay? Only don’t you want a Band-Aid on that first?”

“That can wait. Your number first.” Rin keyed in the digits as Sousuke listed them, then pressed a button on his keypad. Sousuke’s front pocket on his vest immediately started buzzing, accompanied by the sound of seagulls cawing.

“What?” Sousuke asked as Rin raised his eyebrows. “It’s easier to tell if it’s my phone ringing when I’m in public.”

Rin shrugged. “Cool. Now you have my number in your log, okay?” He pressed a few more buttons, saving Sousuke’s number in his contacts, then put away the phone and held out his hand with a grin. “Now, how about that Band-Aid?”

…

For the first time in a long while, Sousuke was actually spending his free time somewhere that wasn’t his apartment.

It’d started with a simple tour of the zoo, since he didn’t work on that day. Rin had claimed that he was sure he would enjoy the place better “when I don’t have to chase after little brats” before asking whether he would be annoyed with having to visit his workplace when it was his off day. Sousuke quickly assured him that it was fine; to be honest, he didn’t really mind where they were going. He still couldn’t really quite believe he was spending time with this person he’d just met under circumstances that were bizarre to say the least, and who he surprisingly found so easy to talk to.

They’d made a round of the entire zoo, passing by the tigers’ enclosure with a lot of chortling on Rin’s part and hurried footsteps on Sousuke’s. Rin had surprised him with his knowledge of facts at the reptile house, before admitting that he’d learned them from one of the twins, and then that he didn’t really hate them as much as he sounded. He still insisted he wasn’t talking to Haruka though as they got to the aquarium, before launching into a rant about his friend’s various weird attributes. “Like his obsession with water! Honestly, I’m surprised he’s not trying to grow fins so he can move to the ocean!”

By the end of their first five minutes in the aquarium Rin had fallen silent though, mesmerized by the various species of marine life they saw. The zoo may have just opened, but it had clearly put a lot of effort into the aquarium, judging from the brilliant displays and myriad of underwater creatures they had.

“Woah,” he breathed in a hushed tone as a large whale shark swam overhead while they were walking through the underwater tunnel. Schools of brightly coloured fish darted around on both sides, but he had eyes only for the giant fish.

Sousuke wasn’t looking at the whale shark; he was drinking in the sight of Rin’s enraptured eyes, glinting in the light shining through the water around them. Then Rin turned his head, and he quickly pretended to be admiring a neon-colored seahorse attached to a strand of seaweed right on the side of the tunnel.

“You know, it kinda reminds me of you.”

“What? The whale shark?”

“Yeah. You both have the same vacant expression.” Rin did an inaccurate impression of the whale shark’s ajar mouth, then laughed as he dodged Sousuke’s fist.

After they’d exited the aquarium, Rin declared that since Sousuke had taken him to a place filled with water he was going to reciprocate likewise soon. It wasn’t until several days later when Sousuke got off his shift that a new development happened in that direction though.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were among the nation’s top ten in butterfly?!”

Sousuke blinked twice at Rin’s fiery expression. “Huh?”

“You told me before you went to Tokitsu High, but you said nothing about placing in the top ten!”

The zoo intern narrowed his eyes. “You were talking to Kisumi, weren’t you?”

“Well, he obviously was a lot more willing to talk about you then _you_ are!”

“I’ll say he is,.” Kisumi had always loved to share info about people he knew to all and sundry, and he’d been intrigued about the ‘red-haired cutie’ who Sousuke had been hanging out with lately.

“That does it - you _have_ to come to Samezuka now,” Rin was saying hotly.

“Samezuka… your high school?”

“I’m dropping by the place next Tuesday. You only have a morning shift on that day, right?”

“Yeah, but - ”

“It’s settled then. I’ll pick you up here when you get off work.” And apparently that was that.

When Tuesday rolled around, Sousuke found himself standing in front of a huge swimming pool while swimmers did laps back and forth. He hadn’t been to a pool of this size ever since he left his school in Tokyo, and he couldn’t help feeling a bit apprehensive.

Rin walked up to him with a grey-haired swimmer. “Sousuke, this is the captain of the Samezuka swim team.”

The captain certainly didn’t seem to have any superior airs about him despite his position. In fact, he seemed a bit nervous as he stood straight as a ruler. “N-nice to meet you! I’m Nitori Aiichirou, third-year. Welcome to our school!” he said as he bowed deeply.

There was a silence, then Nitori looked up questioningly – and gave a start at Sousuke’s stern expression. The seconds ticked by until the taller man’s face softened into a smile. “Nice to meet you too.”

Nitori’s face lit up instantly. “You’re from Tokitsu High, right? That’s amazing! Just what I’d expect of Rin-senpai’s friend!”

Sousuke glanced towards Rin. “Well, actually I’ve only known Rin for about a couple of weeks.”

“Really? But you two seem so close!”

“Alright Ai, don’t you have to oversee the first-years’ training today? Don’t go slacking off just because I’m here today.”

“Yes, Rin-senpai! Oh, and Yamazaki-senpai, would you mind giving a few pointers to the rest of the team during practice? With your experience, I’m sure your advice would help them a lot.”

“I’d be happy to do it.”

“Thanks so much!”

“He seems like a reliable kid,” Sousuke remarked as Nitori headed towards the starting block at the other end of the pool.

Rin grinned fondly at Nitori’s back. “He’s worked really hard to get to where he is. The swim team is in good hands with him in charge.”

“Proud of your boy, aren’t you Mom?”

“Shut up.” Rin kicked him in the leg playfully. “Hey, can you stay back to swim with me after the team’s practice?”

“Is that allowed?”

“I’m an alumni, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“But I didn’t bring any swimwear.”

“We keep extra sets here. Besides,” Rin’s shark teeth were on full display as he grinned. “I wanna see what you can do.”

So when the sky outside had turned dark and the pool was illuminated by moonlight only, the two of them stood on the starting blocks facing the clock on the opposite side of the building.

“We’re swimming butterfly. The distance will be 100 meters.”

They crouched down in starting positions, eyes trained on the second hand of the clock. The needle approached the 60 numeral.

“Let’s do this!” And they both took off, bodies arching as they dove into the pool.

…

Even weeks after their visit to Samezuka, the nighttime race was still constantly on Rin’s mind. “That power… he swims without any hesitation. It isn’t just all talk giving advice to the team – although he seems to get along pretty well with them. His strength’s the real deal. It’s like I can find my resolve just watching him!”

“If you say so,” Haruka said nonchalantly as he busied himself in the kitchen.

“Hey, I’m still not talking to you, remember? Just go fry your mackerel in silence.” Rin lay down on the floor, stretching his legs out under the low table. Despite what he’d just said, he didn’t bear any ill feelings to Haruka over that day. He was too preoccupied to stay mad at him anyway.

“So how was your trip with your mom and Gou?” Haruka asked as he set the plates down on the table.

“It was okay. It’s great to be able to spend more time with them,” Rin answered between bites. They’d gone to his mother’s hometown to attend a relative’s wedding, and both Rin and Gou had enjoyed meeting their mother’s side of the family after having not gone back ever since they were in elementary school. Rin had to head back to Australia soon as well, so he cherished every moment he got to spend with his mother and sister.

“So you gone to see your boyfriend yet?” Haruka ducked to avoid the cushion Rin threw at him and sat back up with his usual stoic expression. “Well?”

“Not yet. I haven’t heard from him since texting him yesterday before his afternoon shift. I’m going over to see him later.” Rin finished his breakfast and stood up to take his plate to the kitchen. “Did Ran and Ren go back to the zoo again?”

“They did. I have no idea why – it’s not like the zoo is going anywhere.”

“Well, it’s already rare to have a zoo so close to Iwatobi in the first place. Who knows, maybe next thing you know they’ll want to live there.”

“Maybe you could quit your studies in Australia and move in as well. Then you could see your boyfriend every day.”

“Don’t make me remember that I’m supposed to not be talking to you.” They finished cleaning up without any further incident, and then Rin took his leave.

He arrived at the zoo entrance to find workers all over the place mopping up water from the pavement. Apparently there had been a huge storm the night before, Kisumi was quick to tell him. “We had a real job trying to calm the animals down when we got here this morning, and the zoo had to be opened an hour later than usual so we could do some basic salvaging. There were fallen leaves and branches all over the place.”

“Yeah yeah,” Rin said half-heartedly, looking around in all directions. Finally he couldn’t stand it anymore. “What’s taking Sousuke so long?”

For the first time since he’d met the pink-haired zoo intern, Kisumi seemed hesitant. “Ah, the big guy… uh, he’s not here now?”

“Huh? Did he go home early or something? Is he sick?”

“He did leave early, but not because he was sick.” Kisumi paused before continuing. “He and a few of the others were working at the aviary when a thick branch broke off and fell down. Some girl would’ve been hit if he hadn’t pushed her out of the way. The branch fell on his right shoulder though…”

Rin did not need to hear any more. “Where does he live?”

…

Sousuke had known that his shoulder was going to hurt like hell for some time after that branch fell on him. He’d also expected that he would have to apply for a day’s leave from work so he could stay home and recuperate – at least the zoo internship had a small form of medical insurance thankfully.

What he didn’t expect was having an angry redhead show up on his doorstep, march right past him into his apartment when he let him in, plop himself down on the only comfortable seating in the entire place that just so happened to be his bed (Sousuke didn’t even have a couch; he didn’t see the need for one), then subject him to a heated lecture delivered at bullet speed.

“Okay okay, I get it,” he interjected quickly before Rin could continue. “I’m not to wind up in outpatient treatment without your express permission in the future.”

“Damn right you’re not,” Rin huffed. “You just _had_ to play the goddamn hero, didn’t you?”

“Well, I couldn’t just let others get hurt instead without doing anything! Don’t cry now.”

“I’m not crying!” Rin let out a sigh. “It’s just, I sort of panicked when I heard what’d happened to you. Sheesh, I don’t see you for a few days and when I finally do you’re wearing an arm brace - why are you grinning at me like that?”

Sousuke didn’t offer any reply, so Rin bumped his thigh with his knee, though gently. “Oi, I’m talking to you!”

“I know, I know. It’s just…” Sousuke reclined back against the headboard, his grin softening. “Well, seeing you rush over here and being so concerned for me, I guess I was kinda surprised. I mean, we haven’t known each other long, yet - ”

“Woah woah, hold on a second.” Rin made a hasty ‘slow down’ motion with his hands before leaning in closer and raising an eyebrow. “You’re just ‘surprised’? That’s it?”

Sousuke paused for a moment. His cheeks were suddenly uncomfortably warm. “Well, I guess, uh… I’m kinda touched as well… I mean, you’re the first person who’s come to visit me today. Even Kisumi had to be told about what happened to me because he was mopping up on the other size of the zoo at the time, and I haven’t seen him since before the morning shift.”

Rin snorted. “You’re using Kisumi as a benchmark for being a good friend? That’s a high standard.”

Sousuke shrugged. “Alright, you definitely win the best friend award. Happy?”

“I suppose. Although…” Rin sat back on the mattress and kept his eyes trained on the opposite wall. “…well, I suppose best friend is good.”

Now it was Sousuke’s turn to lean in closer. “You… were hoping for something more?”

“I-I never said anything!” Rin’s cheeks were flaring until they were a similar shade to his hair.

Sousuke waited. When seconds had ticked by in silence with no further word, he knew he had to take the initiative this time. “I… well, whatever it is you feel about me, I think… I think I might feel the same. About you, that is.”

He watched as Rin’s eyes slowly shifted from the wall to his face. “How do you know what I feel?”

“I, uh… I only assumed, that is…” He wasn’t making any sense like this. Sousuke took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. “I can’t be entirely sure that you feel the same way that I do, and I’m okay with it if you really don’t. I won’t force you or make you do anything against your will. But… if there’s anything you want to say, well, I’m all ears. And I promise no matter what, I won’t leave you alone. Or I would, if you want me to,” he added hastily. “Whatever you want.”

Rin said nothing for a moment, and Sousuke was beginning to think he would not speak at all when he finally did. “I want to do our handshake.”

“…what?”

“You remember – the one I taught you before I went back to my mom’s hometown. You said you’d practice when I was away,” Rin said as he eyed him reproachfully.

Sousuke was momentarily struck speechless. Rin hadn’t actually taught him anything – they’d just happened to have fallen into the habit of doing fistbumps for some reason, and one time Sousuke held out his fist only to not receive a bump in return. Instead he’d wound up copying this set of hand movements Rin was doing, ending in the both of them slapping each other’s hands and laughing together. Rin had been adamant that they do it every time they met up ever since, because apparently he hadn’t had someone to do this sort of thing with when he was a kid and he was making up for it now.

“Well?” Rin’s eyes were still on him in all seriousness.

Sousuke couldn’t help chuckling. “Okay,” he agreed as he held out his fist like usual.

Rin didn’t return the gesture immediately though. Instead, he put his own fist to his lips and kissed it gently before holding it out mere inches away from Sousuke’s – close, but not touching. He was giving Sousuke a choice; to accept, or to reject.

Sousuke didn’t pull away. He bumped his fist against Rin’s, then held it to his own lips and kissed it as well.

Next thing he knew, he was falling back onto his bed under Rin as their mouths clashed together.

…

In the weeks since Rin had known Sousuke, he’d learnt a lot of things about him: that his favorite drink was coke; that he’d quit swimming because all his teammates had improved greatly while his shoulder was still healing and he feared he would never catch up; that his first suggestion would be a tonkatsu place when asked where he’d like to eat; that if college didn’t work out for him, he’d probably find work at an uncle’s factory in Nagoya; that he was a natural pro at karaoke and he didn’t even know it himself, as Nagisa had lamented when Rin had finally managed to convince him to go out with the Iwatobi gang for a night in town.

He’d also learned that he’d actually raced against Haruka before in middle school; that he now saw Gou as his own sister and was a great ally in deterring the enthusiastic advances of one Mikoshiba Momotarou; that he absolutely abhorred the nickname ‘Sou-chan’ that Nagisa had christened him with and calling him such always produced interesting results.

And now, he was learning firsthand that Yamazaki Sousuke was one hell of an amazing kisser as well.

When they finally broke apart for air, Rin felt as if his entire head was spinning, like he’d taken some drug that left him giddy and reckless. That was probably why he went out on a limb and said it. “Take off your clothes.”

Sousuke peered up at him half-dazedly from where he’d pinned him to the bed. “Uh-wha?”

“You heard me.” Rin clambered off Sousuke and seated himself on the side of the mattress. “There, now you can go ahead and do it.”

“Hold on a sec – why do you want me to take my clothes off?!”

“I assure you, I just want to see some - ”

“You want to _see_ something?!”

“Oh, for crying out loud.” Rin yanked Sousuke up into a sitting position, then pecked him on the lips for good measure. “Look, I’m not going to have sex with you, alright?”

“Uh, okay.” There was a pause, then Sousuke started, “Um, when you said you’re not going to, well, you know, did you mean for the time being or - ”

“For the time being,” Rin affirmed. “Now stop fretting like an old woman and start stripping.”

Sousuke obeyed, although his eyebrows remained up within the fringe of hair framing his forehead the entire time. He stood up and pulled off his shirt using his left arm alone, then cast it aside and bent down slightly. Rin could feel his heart thrumming in anticipation as fingers curled around the hem of Sousuke’s pants and pulled down…

…to reveal a pair of plain-coloured boxers.

“What, is my lower half that disappointing?”

Damn, Sousuke must’ve caught his crestfallen expression. “Your lower half looks perfectly fine, alright?” Rin answered boldly, not even bothering about the implications. “It’s just, well… oh never mind.”

But Sousuke caught on quick enough though. “Don’t tell me you actually expected me to be wearing that thong _all_ this time?” he questioned disbelievingly as he pulled his pants back up.

“W-well, what was I supposed to think?! For all I know you might have a drawer full of animal print underwear!”

“I can solemnly promise you I do not have anything of the sort. Kisumi got me that one from before, and I’ve sorely regretted not strangling him for it ever since.”

A snort escaped from Rin’s mouth. “I’m sorry, did you just say _Kisumi_ got you the thong?”

“He thought it was a good way to mark the start of my internship.”

“Well, he certainly has an interesting taste in presents. I mean, a zoo gift shop souvenir? Seriously?” There was no stopping the laughing now. “And with such an idiotic design to boot.”

“Tell me about it. I feel like Tarzan from some tacky B-grade movie whenever I’m wearing the thing.”

“At least Tarzan’s loincloth covered more skin.” Rin could see Sousuke’s mouth twitch in amusement, which set him off even more. “Not to mention it doesn’t even really look like real tiger stripes!”

“True. I should know – I’ve faced three of them before.”

“Yeah, I remember. ‘Stay back’ – you looked more like you were training dogs than being cornered by man-eating beasts! Hey, maybe you should’ve waved the thong at them - that might’ve scared them off!” Part of Rin was fully aware that he was sounding like a lunatic, but the rest of him couldn’t care less. He had Sousuke laughing along with him, and that was all that mattered.

“And to think I actually got _hard_ seeing you in nothing but that!” Rin guffawed for a second more before suddenly realizing that Sousuke was staring at him wide-eyed. Then he only fully comprehended what he’d just said. _Fuck…_

“Rin, what – what did you just say?”

“Nothing! Nothing at all!” Damn it, why couldn’t Sousuke’s bedroom have a large hole for him to crawl into?! He would’ve kept his eyes on the opposite wall again, except there was one half-naked obstacle standing in between that was proving _very_ hard to ignore.

The awkward silence permeated the room as time dragged on, until Sousuke gave a half-laugh to break the atmosphere. “You know, whenever I recall your face back then in the changing room, I always took you to be absolutely horrified. You looked fit to burst at the time.”

“I know,” Rin snapped harshly, though even he could hear the quiver underneath his tone. “You even asked me back then whether I was choking.”

“I-I did?”

“Yup.”

“God, that - ” Sousuke scratched the back of his head, a gesture that Rin noticed he always did whenever he was feeling awkward or embarrassed. It was rather endearing. “That… I can’t _believe_ I said that.”

“I couldn’t believe it either. I remember thinking, ‘Oh damn, now he thinks I’m _choking_?!’ Not really the first impression I like others to have of me.”

“Better than being completely naked except for a thong anyway. Although…” The corners of Sousuke’s mouth lifted in a smirk. “I suppose I _did_ end up leaving a good impression on you, in a way?”

“Shut up.” Even so, Rin shifted on the bed so Sousuke could sit beside him. “I was already mortified enough, but then you went and said that, so there was nothing I could do but make a run for it. I all but tore Haruka out of his changing room – luckily _he_ was already fully dressed. He didn’t get to buy his new swimsuit though, as he still reminds me sullenly.”

“That explains it. You just shot out of there like a bullet, and when I left the changing room you weren’t anywhere to be seen. I thought you were too traumatized or something.”

“I was. When I suggested checking out the swimwear department, I didn’t expect to leave it with a boner.” He finally managed a laugh, only to find Sousuke staring at him again. “What is it now?”

“I just realized – how did you know the thong was from the zoo gift shop?”

“I, er – Kisumi told me!”

“But you didn’t even know Kisumi was the one who got me the thong until I told you just now.”

“That, uh, that is – woah!” Sousuke had lifted Rin from the bed and set him on the floor right in front of him, holding him upright so he didn’t collapse before finding his feet. “What was that for?”

“Now it’s your turn to take off your clothes.”

“… _HAH_?!”

“What? You asked me to do the same, and I did it.”

“Yeah, but I just - ”

“ – wanted to see something?” Sousuke teased. “So can’t I do the same as well?”

“That – that’s not it! I just – ugh, what am I supposed to say?!” Rin took a step back and threw up his hands in frustration. It wasn’t that he was opposed to stripping in front of Sousuke – in fact, he didn’t have a single problem with that at all – but there was the small matter of, well…

“…Rin?” His heart skipped a beat at the concern in Sousuke’s voice. “If you don’t want to do it, I won’t make you. I already told you I won’t force you against your will.”

Well, that changed things. “… I’ll do it.”

“What?”

“I said I’ll do it! Just – don’t laugh, okay?”

Sousuke’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Why would I laugh?”

“Just don’t.” Wanting to get this over with as fast as possible before he chickened out, Rin whipped his shirt off and over his head with a speed Haruka would’ve been proud of, then tugged on his sweatpants and let them fall to the floor. His eyes followed their descent down his legs, then stayed on where they pooled around his ankles. They were the only thing he felt able to look in the eye right now.

Then he felt large hands settle around his waist, and gave an involuntary gasp.

Sousuke said nothing as he gently pulled him down onto his lap, the warmth of his hands spreading to Rin’s sides. Fingers trailed the smooth skin over his hipbones as the taller man finally found his voice. “You look…”

“Like an actor in a B-grade movie?” Rin suggested with a smirk, recalling his remark from earlier.

“No no, anything but that.” Sousuke’s eyes were focused on where his hands were placed on Rin’s waist, but Rin could still see the bright flush that bloomed on his cheeks. “God, I think I can understand it now.”

“Understand what?”

The zoo intern gulped audibly before answering. “Why you’d get hard from seeing someone in a tiger print thong.”

Rin’s mind went blank. “Well, uh… I didn’t buy this with the intent of arousing anyone, so…”

He felt more than heard Sousuke’s chuckle at that – at some point, his own hands had wandered to the other’s shoulders. “Maybe the zoo should’ve put up a warning in the gift shop or something.”

“ ‘Caution – Might Incite Wild Behaviour’. Yeah, that fits nicely.”

“You’re worse than Kisumi at headlines, you know that?”

“Oi, don’t bring up that guy when I’m sitting in your lap barely dressed. Pay attention to the mood, will you?”

“And what exactly is the ‘mood’ right now?”

Rin hummed. All his inhibitions seemed to have exited the building at this point, leaving nothing but a sense of daring as he nudged Sousuke’s groin with his bare knee. “I don’t know, why don’t you ask this?”

He could hear Sousuke’s breathing grow shallow. “You’ve got quite a little problem yourself, you know. In fact, yours is way more evident.”

“Mmm, can’t imagine why. Surely it’s not because I’m wearing nothing but a thin piece of cloth, right?” Rin’s lips tilted upwards as he leaned in closer until their faces were inches away from each other. “Didn’t you say before that you have to ensure your guests are comfortable at all times?”

Teal eyes looked straight into crimson ones. “Yeah.”

“Then go ahead and do your job, Mr Zookeeper.”

And that was how Rin learned that Yamazaki Sousuke’s hands were skilled at much more than applying first aid.

…

The flight attendant was walking around reminding passengers to put on their seatbelts and get ready for take-off when she noticed the small trinket in the middle of the aisle. “Sir, did you drop this?” she asked as she picked it up.

The young man sitting in the aisle seat right beside widened his eyes before reaching for it. “Oh, yes, thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome, sir. Do remember to fasten your seatbelt properly; we’ll be taking off shortly.”

“I will.” She turned around and walked back up the aisle, leaving the young man to brush away a strand of red hair falling over his face before tucking the little whale shark plush toy keychain into his front pocket, where it rustled against a folded slip of paper with an email address written on it. He’d copied the address down in his phone’s memo app as well, just in case he lost the paper.

As the plane engines revved up, the young man looked out the window and smiled. “I’ll see you soon,” he told his reflection in the glass before leaning back in his seat and preparing himself for the journey ahead.

**Author's Note:**

> My first time writing a birthday fic for someone - I hope I did your prompt justice, sweetie! To be honest I had no idea how this wound up being a 9k fic; I just took the AU and ran with it for there, and now I'm not even entirely sure what I've just written *laughs nervously*. Still, it was fun ^^
> 
> Comments are always welcome, and constructive criticism is well appreciated!


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